vividly to life. And even in the historical poems Cavafy tends to select as individuals to exemplify tragedy and triumph, beautiful young men. "Of Demetrius Soter, 162-150 B.C." is such a poem and there are many others, notably "By an Italian Shore," and "Temethos of Antioch, A.D. 400."
Buy this book. Read these poems. "He asked about the Quality," "Two Young Men 23 to 24," "Days of 1908"-you cannot fail, having read these three alone, to know with complete certainty that Constantine Cavafy, more effectively than any other writer of the 20th century, speaks for the homosexual, in a language which knows no barriers.
-John Colton
THE FROG POND by Joyce McIver, Braziller, 1961, $4.95.
This claims to be a factual account of her mental illness by a female journalist. It reads like a True Confessions version of Krafft-Ebing. Seeking a cure for her tendency to fall victim to ugly and rapacious men, Miss McIver chases from one psychoanalyst to another.
The first forgets her name. He
turns out to be a sadist-narcissist with mirrors on his apartment ceilings and a wife whom he strands there for days, tied hand and foot. Analyst number two never talks except on Fridays. Three screams at her in a heavy German accent. Four helps her, so she leaves him. Five optimistically pronounces her healed when she tells him of a happy dream. She is finally cured by deepbreathing exercises.
An exposé of the psychoanalytic racket is very likely needed. There is malpractice. Many inflated claims are made. Much meaningless jargon is tossed about. Much real harm is done. But though it claims to be, Miss McIver's story is not in fact such an exposé. It is a cheap and sleazy attempt to cash in on the subject.
Contrary to the jacket blurbs, the book is neither well-written nor witty. The characters are uniformly stupid and unpleasantthe heroine included. The dialogue is inept, the way of life described without relation to reality.
If this is a factual account, then the Baron Munchausen was the soul of truth.
-J. Colton
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